Research

The Department of Pediatrics has a long-standing commitment to innovation. Columbia researchers have been working to improve the health of children since the medical college’s founding as part of King’s College in 1770. At that time university physicians studied deadly conditions like diphtheria and “blue baby” syndrome. Since then, generations of Columbia pediatricians have made seminal contributions to the most prevalent and devastating diseases that impact children.

With more NIH funding than any other department of pediatrics in the Northeast, our physician-scientists are addressing the greatest threats facing children in the 21st century: obesity, cancer, infectious diseases, diabetes, genetic diseases, heart disease, asthma, and the impacts of prematurity. Our faculty emphasize contemporary research themes, including molecular diagnostics and personalized medicine, and foster wide-ranging and fertile collaborations throughout the university, nationally, and internationally. We strive to rapidly move our discoveries to patient care to directly benefit our diverse patient community in the New York region as well as the children around the nation and globe. Discovery and innovation reside in the DNA of our department.


COVID-19

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 galvanized physician-scientists in the Department of Pediatrics to focus on the myriad questions raised by the virus and its impact on infants, children, and adolescents. Our investigators have collaborated with experts throughout Columbia and at centers around the country and the globe, resulting in more than 200 publications since March 2020. Highlights of our COVID-19 research:

  • Columbia pediatricians were among the first investigators to describe multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, an inflammatory syndrome resembling Kawasaki disease following infection with COVID-19. “Public awareness of the disease was dramatically heightened since we wrote the report,” notes Eva Cheung, MD. “We developed a now widely used treatment protocol for MIS-C.”
  • Anne Moscona, MD, and Matteo Porotto, PhD, co-directors of the Center for Host-Pathogen Interaction, have developed a lipopeptide spray designed to prevent the virus from entering host cells. “We are preparing to rapidly respond with effective prevention for other emergent viruses to halt or contain future pandemics,” says Dr. Moscona.
  • Dani Dumitriu, MD, PhD, and colleagues reported that babies born during the pandemic’s first year scored slightly lower on a developmental screening test of social and motor skills at 6 months, regardless of whether their mothers had COVID during pregnancy, compared to babies born just before the pandemic. The results suggest that the stress felt by pregnant mothers during these unprecedented times may have played a role. Dr. Dumitriu says, “The differences were not large, but small developmental shifts warrant careful attention because at the population level, they can have a significant public health impact.”

Selected Articles

  • Intranasal Fusion Inhibitory Lipopeptide Prevents Direct-Contact SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Ferrets
    • de Vries RD, Schmitz KS, Bovier FT, Predella C, Khao J, Noack D, Haagmans BL, Herfst S, Stearns KN, Drew-Bear J, Biswas S, Rockx B, McGill G, Dorrello NV, Gellman SH, Alabi CA, de Swart RL, Moscona A, Porotto M.S Science. 2021 Feb 17. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33597220 
  • Longitudinal Outcomes for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children
    • Farooqi KM, Chan A, Weller RJ, Mi J, Jiang P, Abrahams E, Ferris A, Krishnan US, Pasumarti N, Suh S, Shah AM, DiLorenzo MP, Zachariah P, Milner JD, Rosenzweig EB, Gorelik M, Anderson BR; Columbia University Interdisciplinary MIS-C Follow-up Program and the CUIMC Pediatric/Adult Congenital Heart Research Collaborative.Pediatrics. 2021 Aug;148(2):e2021051155. doi: 10.1542/peds.2021-051155. Epub 2021 Jul 15. PMID: 34266903
  • Association of Birth During the COVID-19 Pandemic With Neurodevelopmental Status at 6 Months in Infants With and Without In Utero Exposure to Maternal SARS-CoV-2 Infection
    • Shuffrey LC, Firestein MR, Kyle MH, Fields A, Alcántara C, Amso D, Austin J, Bain JM, Barbosa J, Bence M, Bianco C, Fernández CR, Goldman S, Gyamfi-Bannerman C, Hott V, Hu Y, Hussain M, Factor-Litvak P, Lucchini M, Mandel A, Marsh R, McBrian D, Mourad M, Muhle R, Noble KG, Penn AA, Rodriguez C, Sania A, Silver WG, O'Reilly KC, Stockwell M, Tottenham N, Welch MG, Zork N, Fifer WP, Monk C, Dumitriu D. JAMA Pediatr. 2022 Jan 4:e215563. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.5563. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34982107
  • Distinct Antibody Responses to SARS-CoV-2 in Children and Adults Across the COVID-19 Clinical Spectrum
    • Weisberg SP, Connors TJ, Zhu Y, Baldwin MR, Lin WH, Wontakal S, Szabo PA, Wells SB, Dogra P, Gray J, Idzikowski E, Stelitano D, Bovier FT, Davis-Porada J, Matsumoto R, Poon MML, Chait M, Mathieu C, Horvat B, Decimo D, Hudson KE, Zotti FD, Bitan ZC, La Carpia F, Ferrara SA, Mace E, Milner J, Moscona A, Hod E, Porotto M, Farber DL.Nat Immunol. 2021 Jan;22(1):25-31. doi: 10.1038/s41590-020-00826-9. Epub 2020 Nov 5.PMID: 33154590 Free PMC article.

Innovation Nucleation Fund

The Innovation Nucleation Fund was established to advance the research mission of the Department of Pediatrics and allows talented faculty the freedom to pursue innovative, bold ideas in research that could lead to breakthroughs in children’s health. The fund, perpetuated by philanthropic contributions to the department from private donors, is designed to bring a venture capital approach to supporting new research in children’s health. Awards of $10,000 to $50,000 are given to faculty whose projects demonstrate an ability to advance the department’s mission of engaging in advocacy, clinical work, education, and basic or clinical translational research.

2021 Recipients


Early-Stage Investigators 

Through our commitment to developing the next generation of pediatric physician-scientists, we continue to expand our community of early-stage investigators and to support their work through mentoring and by ensuring that promising ideas receive research funding. Our high number of NIH career development awards relative to the size of our faculty is a reflection of that commitment. Meet some of our early-stage investigators below.


Dominique Bailey, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, is investigating the molecular mechanisms and pathophysiology of reactive epithelial eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a chronic allergen-mediated immune disease that affects both adults and children. Using advanced techniques in mouse genetics, she has established a mouse model of pediatric EoE and has created a biorepository of esophageal tissue specimens and blood samples from patients with the condition. To investigate the role of progenitor/stem cells in EoE, Dr. Bailey and colleagues have generated esophageal progenitor cell organoids from human pluripotent stem cells. She is using the mouse model to identify treatment targets and biomarkers specific to pediatric EoE and the biorepository samples to translate these findings to children with EoE.


Robyn Gartrell, MD

Robyn Gartrell, MD, an assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation, uses advances in the science of tumor immunology to develop more effective and more personalized therapies for children with cancer. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship in immuno-oncology and precision medicine, she focused her research on the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) in adult and pediatric brain tumors. Dr. Gartrell is currently investigating pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs), including diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs) with the H3K27M mutation, which are universally fatal cancer when treated with radiation therapy (RT) alone. Investigations have shown that conventional RT (CONV-RT) administered at high doses not only can ablate pHGGs but also depletes the TIME. A novel RT technology, ultrafast dose rate radiation (FLASH-RT), has been shown to reduce tumor burden, stimulate anti-tumor immunity, and limit neurotoxicity. Preliminary data of the immunogenomics of mouse DMG tumors treated with either CONV-RT or FLASH-RT found that CONV-RT differentially increases the expression of the potent immunosuppressive cytokine TGF-beta compared to FLASH-RT, suggesting that the modulation of the TIME differs depending on the RT technology used. The Gartrell team is investigating TIME in human specimens at diagnosis and the effect of FLASH-RTs on TIME in mouse models of DMG to define improved treatment strategies for these deadly childhood cancers.


Jennifer Woo Baidal, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and director of Pediatric Weight Management, notes that “childhood obesity prevalence soared at an unprecedented pace over the past four decades and nearly one in five children in the U.S. are obese and subject to myriad adverse health outcomes, including fatty liver disease, diabetes, and reduced life expectancy." She believes obesity begins in early life and is impacted by racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities that perpetuate household food insecurity. (Estimates of prevalence of household food insecurity in 2021 are even higher because of widespread economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.) The National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Pediatrics, and others recommend screening for household food insecurity in routine clinical care. Dr. Woo Baidal and colleagues have established Food FARMacia, a mobile food pantry, to address the high prevalence of food insecurity among local pediatric patients. The intervention includes twice monthly food distribution and self-directed food preparation support for families at risk.

Dr. Woo Baidal studies childhood obesity prevention interventions in clinical and community settings. Her research explores family perceptions of obesity prevention interventions and aims to identify gaps in practice resources for nutritionists in the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). She is focused on the first 1,000 days of life, pregnancy through age two, for development and testing of clinical interventions to reduce obesity risk factors and on noninvasive technologies to detect and grade pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a common complication of childhood obesity and the most common cause of chronic liver disease in children and adults worldwide, and a leading reason for liver transplantation.


Shivang Shah, MD, PhD

Shivang Shah, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, has a long-standing interest in host susceptibility in severe malaria, an illness that is fatal in nearly half a million people worldwide every year, especially children in Africa with P. falciparum. Dr. Shah is currently studying the role of lung epithelial/endothelial activation and innate immune dysregulation in malaria-associated respiratory distress (MA-RD). The pathogenesis of respiratory distress (RD) in severe malaria is poorly understood. Factors believed to contribute to RD in severe malaria include co-infection with bacterial or viral pneumonia, conditions with a high mortality rate in young children globally. Dr. Shah has found that lung epithelial activation and innate immune dysregulation induced by the parasite product hemozoin (HZ), which is abundant in the lungs in patients with severe malaria, is able to directly promote inflammation and barrier modulation that may potentiate malarial lung injury. Using mouse models of malaria and respiratory co-infection, his work will ultimately identify how differential innate immune dysregulation may distinguish the underlying pathophysiology of respiratory distress driven by malaria versus viral/bacterial etiologies.


Tom Connors, MD, an assistant professor in the Division of Critical Care and Hospital Medicine, investigates the generation and establishment of protective adaptive immune responses in infants and young children, particularly those with viral respiratory tract infections (VRTI). Ubiquitous in early life, VRTI are commonly the first major challenge to the developing immune system. Initial responses are formative for future protection from pathogens, and aberrant responses in early life can have enduring repercussions. Through his work on VRTI, Dr. Connors has investigated a distinct immunophenotype associated with disease severity, which was identified in the airway samples but not in blood. He has defined how early-life T cell responses are distinct from adults and noted intrinsic differences in T cell receptor signaling at the earliest timepoints of immune system formation. He believes that in order to advance the health of children, “we must establish how normal immune development take places, understand how immune responses in children differ from those in adults, and appreciate the impact that common pediatric problems have on immune development.”